We’re in a new age of Stephen King adaptations, with new and upcoming films like It, Gerald’s Game, and 1922 winning over critics and audiences alike. But, like King’s own catalogue, there are plenty of stinkers.

The Dark Tower was the long-awaited adaptation of King’s magnum opus, the multiverse-spanning sci-fi series of the same name. And it tanked. Despite the many years The Dark Tower spent in development, fans got a choppy, chopped-up adaptation of the book series, causing the film to barely break even at the box office and to attain a meager 16% Rotten Tomatoes rating. And though King was heavily invested in the success of this adaptation, the author revealed why The Dark Tower failed.

The first wave of reviews for Gold are disappointing. Unfortunately, Stephen Gaghan‘s latest directorial effort, which The Weinstein Company positioned as an awards contender, so far hasn’t connected with critics. Perhaps it’ll fare better with audiences once the film, which stars Matthew McConaughey and Edgar Ramirez, goes wide at the end of the month.

After helping to launch The Hunger Games franchise with a $700M hit, some would assume writer-director Gary Ross wouldn’t have much trouble making another film. And yet, following that box-office and critical success, Ross still struggled to get a passion project of his made. For a decade, the director behind Seabiscuit and Pleasantville worked on Free State of Jones, which has finally made its way to theaters.

Once the Civil War drama, which stars Matthew McConaughey as Newton Knight, acquired financing, Ross still found himself doing whatever he had to do to make the film, including paying a few salaries out of his pocket and working for DGA minimum. The director — who also wrote Dave and co-wrote Big — discussed his latest film and career with us. If you want to know more about Ross’ upcoming Ocean’s 11 spinoff, Ocean’s Eight, click here.

It’s been four years since director Gary Ross helped launch The Hunger Games franchise. Ross, who was concerned he wouldn’t have enough time to make the sequels, stepped away from the series, leaving the other installments in the hands of director Francis Lawrence. Perhaps using his clout from the success of the first film, the Seabiscuit and Pleasantville director’s follow-up to The Hunger Games is a fairly large-scale period drama set during the Civil War.

Free State of Jones stars Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beyond the Lights), Keri Russell (The Americans), and Mahershala Ali (The Hunger Games franchise). Below, watch the new Free State of Jones trailer.

It’s happening. After years of false starts and rumors and tales from development hell and being juggled between movie studios like a hot shell casing, the adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower is finally and officially about to go before cameras. For real. Here’s how official it is: King and director Nikolaj Arcel actually did the thing where they sit down with Entertainment Weekly and discuss the project at length. You don’t do that if the film is still a pipe dream. Coffee is for closers and EW profiles are for movies that are actually getting made.

Although they obviously can’t say too much, King and Arcel did discuss the film’s timeline, its leading men, the possibility of a companion television series, and whether or not the most famous line of all King’s canon would make it into the adaptation. It’s an oasis of information.

It’s the kind of left-field casting that is almost disgustingly perfect – why didn’t anyone think of this sooner? Idris Elba, the star of Luther, Pacific Rim, and Beasts of No Nation is the current frontrunner to play Roland Deschain in director Nikolaj Arcel‘s adaptation of The Gunslinger, the first novel in Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower series. If he does sign on the dotted line, he’ll be joining a cast that already includes Matthew McConaughey, who is set to play the mysterious “man in black,” the chief villain of the series and the Big Bad of the entire Stephen King universe.

Is that really David Letterman on the cover of The Avengers? Which tiny superhero is now on the set of Captain America: Civil War? How does Killer Croc and Scott Eastwood‘s character look on the set of Suicide Squad? Did a real life Captain America do something heroic? What would a Rick Baker designed Joker look like? Could Matthew McConaughey be involved in Spider-Man? Who are the most violent Marvel Comics superheroes? Want to read about the end of The Flash season 1? And what does the creator of Harley Quinn think about the movie version? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits. Read More »

What does Jared Leto‘s full costume look like in Suicide Squad? Why hasn’t a Lobo movie happened yet? What’s going on on the set of Captain America: Civil War? Has Matthew McConaughy read for movies with Marvel and DC? Want to see some cool promo at from Batman v Superman? Who is the latest character rumored to pop up in that film? Will Flash and Supergirl cross over? How does Black Panther fit into Captain America: Civil War? Did Joss Whedon film the final line in Avengers: Age of Ultron? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits. Read More »

Even the most trivial trinket becomes priceless depending on who owned it. A baseball alone is worth nothing, but if it meets the bat of a specific player at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right place, it can be worth millions. A piece of paper is worthless until the right person puts the right mark on it. A bottle of wine from hundreds of years ago is vinegar, unless you can prove it was owned by someone legendary.

That last scenario is the premise of Billionaire’s Vinegar, a new film set up at Sony Pictures that just gained Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey as the star. It’s about the purchase, and then lawsuit, surrounding a bottle of wine sold at auction that was supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson. Read the synopsis and more below. Read More »

Josh Boone‘s plans for Stephen King‘s The Stand are grand. Four movies, if all goes according to plan. If that plan is to work, he’s going to need “a cast that’s going to blow people’s minds,” or so he recently said on a podcast. He may have already started making that statement true as Matthew McConaughy is reportedly in talked to play Randall Flagg, the main villain of the story.

Read more about potential Matthew McConaughey The Stand casting below. Read More »